Indonesia unveils new tool to help curb emissions

26 Mar 2015

Around the world, countries are trying to curb the emission of greenhouse gases due to deforestation and other land uses. But in order to cut emissions, you must know how much you’re emitting—a challenge for many tropical countries.

Indonesia is no different. Now, though, it is poised to launch a powerful new tool to support its efforts to accurately measure, report and verify (MRV) land-based greenhouse gas emissions: The Indonesian National Carbon Accounting System (INCAS), developed by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, will provide a nationally consistent approach to measuring emissions.

These methods have already been used in a pilot project in Central Kalimantan province and will help guide the official expansion of the INCAS to the national level. Two new publications, about the INCAS methodology and the pilot, will be unveiled Friday, 27 March, in a public event in Jakarta.

“I am hopeful that the establishment of the INCAS as Indonesia’s official MRV system for the land sector will increase investor confidence in REDD+ activities in our country and will assist us in confidently transforming the way we manage our land sector in a more environmentally, socially and economically sustainable manner,” said Siti Nurbaya, Indonesia’s Minister for Environment and Forestry.

INCAS is a “Tier 3” MRV system, meaning that it uses a carbon modeling process and the best available country-specific data. INCAS was developed with assistance from the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) with funding from the Government of Australia.